Episodes

What is Beyond the Big Red Truck?

Beyond the Big Red Truck: When I say Big Red Truck, “for my purpose”, Im referring to life in the firehouse or work environment. “Beyond” the Big Red Truck “for my purpose,” is life outside of that environment ( whatever parts of your life outside the work environment that you’re struggling with. Where you might feel stress, anxiety, depression etc. when you are in those environments. i.e.; Home, kids, chores, relationships, etc) or for my purpose, BEYOND the BIG RED TRUCK.

Hey everyone, I hope you’re busy being AWESOME today! Thanks for taking the time to read the premier, first ever post for Beyond the Big Red Truck. I’m honoured and grateful knowing that you are spending this time and that it’s important enough to you, to read this post. I positive you’ll enjoy it. My name is Brad Robinson and I’m the founder and creator of Beyond the Big Red Truck. If you’re reading this, you’re probably asking, “What is Beyond the Big Red Truck?” “What does it even mean?”. Maybe you’re wondering “Why, Beyond the Big Red Truck?” and maybe even, “How is this going to help me?” Well let me tie up a few loose ends for you, paint a really clear picture of why we do what we do, and how it can help you live your most optimal life, Beyond the Big Red Truck.

First, I’ll tell you a little bit about myself. My name is Brad Robinson, I’m 46 years old, Husband to my amazing, yoga crazy wife Vanessa, and Dad to a future big leaguer, Nolan. I played a little baseball when I was a kid, I worked a bit in the family insurance business, was a bartender, gas jockey and I am an entrepreneur and the owner of Robinson Fitness, a functional training company. Currently a Lieutenant in the Fire Service for the past 16 years. I am an IAFF Peer Fitness Instructor, First Responder instructor and wellness/fitness advocate for our department. I say currently because I was injured on the job, a silent injury, that I hid for years, and ultimately had me contemplating suicide because I felt like I was a burden to world and they would be better off without me. After feeling like I was crazy, Crying on the drive home daily, avoiding people, I just wanted to be alone and withdrew myself from life. And then, I’m not sure why but I started thinking about my family one day and for a brief moment something inside me just said, “make the call” and I did. And that started the long road to recovery, which included counselling, psychology, psychiatry, medical doctors, blood tests, resiliency retreat, etc. etc….Fast forward to today, around 2 years later. Now today, with making small changes over time, a desire to keep going no matter what, not giving up, and just truly believing in the process, I am thriving and living the life I want. A life that I choose, and that I am in charge of, regardless of the obstacles around me or that I’m faced with. And I believe you can too. Here’s why:

There are many programs out there to help treat trauma and mental health issues, and although some programs are in their infancy, these mental health issues are now and continue to be recognized and accepted as job related injuries. The trend is definitely inching forward in this massive, crippling issue and it needs all the attention it can get.

From my experience, a lot of these programs ( which have helped me immensely as part of healing process) focus on labelling a problem and then teaching you the skills necessary to cope with it when it happens again or when you have a traumatic incident. They teach you how to be resilient and this is a absolute necessary skill for someone in crisis, like I was.

Here’s where I found a gap. What happens after your treatment? What happens when you go home, out of the safe environment of counselling, your doctors office or a retreat? Now what? I found that I was put back in the same environment that was causing my issues right away, and while you have new skills to cope with an event at work, what happens when you’re not at work? When you’re at home in an environment that has caused you to feel anxiety, depression and stress, and environment that hasn’t changed, and your brain just goes into protection mode and you withdraw or just react with an outburst.

That’s where I believe in a holistic (one whole body,connected) approach to healing. I believe this because the brain doesn’t know why it is stressed or anxious, you are telling it to be by your reaction to a situation or environment. So, what if you could add some skills and be able to take responsibility for your life and live the life you choose despite everything around you. Your life in the firehalls is only part of your life, so how do you work on what is to me, the most important and your foundation, the “other”part of your life to incorporate everything into one whole body approach to healing?

Here’s how! Now, with my experience and journey of personal growth and healing, in the past nine years I have been able to conquer a back injury that affected me for 20 years, which led me to learn to move properly, eat for fuel and health ( not for sport, like in the hall), lose over thirty pounds of unhealthy fat to now be in the best shape of my life. I am proud to say that I have also conquered an OSI ( Occupational Stress Injury) PTSD and anxiety that almost drove me to take my own life. I have learned to minimalize my life, declutter, realign and truly find out what’s important to me. In other words, do less but do it better. I have reestablished relationships and make time for myself. I am truly living the life I want, despite what has “happened to me” or what obstacles are thrown my way.

Almost there! So, as part of my journey, my gift to you and everyone is to share/teach/educate/enable and to make the world a better place by giving you the tools that I have learned, to live you optimal life! There is no magic pill or silver bullet, just you, making small changes over time, creating good habits and some momentum. Our mission is to help you create a whole body, healthy, thriving, optimal life for you, your family and your loved ones, BEYOND THE BIG RED TRUCK!

Thanks for taking the time and remember to BE AWESOME!

Brad

Please email if you have any questions and as your message is important to me, I will respond as soon as humanly possible!

Resources

The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA)

The Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) offers a host of resources, tools and training programs aimed at increasing mental health literacy and improving the mental health and well-being of all people living in Canada.

BC PROFESSIONAL FIRE FIGHTERS ASSOCIATION

We are BC's 4000 professional fire fighters working on the front lines serving our local communities and keeping the public safe. We work in fifty-three municipalities, districts and cities across the province and the Yukon.

Point 8 Training & Development, Inc.

We are different in that our registered clinical counsellors deliver our Mental Strength Training program which uses our innovative licensed model and powerful techniques. We get to the root cause to help you overcome and change behaviours for desired results and improve your well-being.

We Are All A Little Crazy

Two powerful words that can tie the world together through our common challenges. This hand gesture means “same here” in sign language, and<br />
flashing this sign communicates to our growing community that you face some of life’s challenges as well. The Global #SameHere Movement, learn more:

iRel8

<br />
PEER-TO-PEER CH|<br />
iRel8 is the global leading social network for mental wellness. Nobody is immune to mental health challenges and there is an epidemic that affects people across the world.

The Robinson Group

The Robinson Group utilizes the NLP communication model in all of their training programs. NLP, or Neuro Linguistic Programming is the study of excellence. It was developed through modeling the behavior and strategies of people who achieved excellence in their field of expertise. It utilizes the power of the mind to enhance performance and is the language of leaders.